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Short End of the Stick

I have to admit, even as someone who has great appreciation for short stories, I often find it hard to muster the same kind of enthusiasm for reading them as I do when approaching the pleasant immersion of a novel. But I've proven myself wrong so many times, as I take up a book with a sense of duty and find myself thoroughly enthralled instead. Short stories are perfect for those with a hectic schedule (or a short attention span); they offer condensed, pithy prose and plot, and they can often alert you to a new talent before everyone's going crazy for their debut novel. I was inspired to write this post by Daniel Orozco's Orientation, which I just read. "Officer Weeps" in particular is one my my favorite short stories ever. His characters are weird and liminal--a woman on a late-night cookie binge, an ex-dictator, a pair of officers falling in love amidst an odd vandalism streak--and he presents them with hilarious and terrible brevity. Here are a few other collections that I really enjoyed, written with a similarly strange focus and an equal blend of heartbreak and humor.

July, Miranda - No One Belongs Here More Than YouPleasantly twee, these stories could be dark given their subject matter--like rejected, desperate women seducing teenagers or becoming sex workers--but their stylish, flat delivery puts more emphasis on the great strangeness of being human than the particular sadness of these situations.

Link, Kelly - Magic For BeginnersDeeply strange things are taken for granted in this supernatural book. It is the imagery that's most stayed with me--a house whose lawn is nightly taken over by scores of rabits; a magic handbag; a late-night convenience store serving zombies. But don't underestimate Link's power to mine the deeply personal even as she dresses her stories in the outlandish.

Russel, Karen - St. Lucy's Home For Girls Raised By WolvesRussel's novel Swamplandia! is a big deal now, and it began in this lovely collection's magical realism- and southern gothic-influenced tales of children and their joyfully and satirically described, odd and enchanted worlds.

Saunders, George - In Persuasion NationI love George Saunders. His surreal, futuristic dystopias are terribly plausible, pushed just far enough into absurdity to be funny without being only that. "My Flamboyant Grandson," for example, where a grandpa in the Big Apple begins to rebel at the constant, targeted barrage of customized adds, seems just a few steps away from our already over-saturated, over-advertised present.

Pro Tip: The library puts a red "Short Stories" label on the side of collections for easier browsing in the main fiction section.